Hundreds march in NYC to protest Ferguson decision

Brooklyn Man Arrested for Throwing Red Paint that Struck Bratton

November 25, 2014 By Deepti Hajela Associated Press

Protestors march toward Times Square after the announcement of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man on Monday in New York. AP Photo/John Minchillo

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Hundreds of people marched in New York City to peacefully protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in Missouri, a shooting that has sparked weeks of sometime violent protests.

More than 100 demonstrators briefly blocked the Brooklyn Bridge late Monday, then marched onto Adams Street in Brooklyn chanting, “No justice, no peace.” Marchers were orderly and followed an NYPD vehicle.

Demonstrators were also reported blocking the Manhattan Bridge, and one of the three spans of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge.

Protesters gathered in Union Square on Monday night when it was announced that officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the death of Michael Brown. They chanted “hands up, don’t shoot” while holding up signs saying “Black lives matter” and “jail killer cops.”

The protesters then swarmed through traffic, closely trailed by police officers, as they marched up to Times Square where they held a rally.

Another crowd of several hundred continued north up Columbus Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side shouting “Don’t shoot!”

They were flanked by police on foot and in vehicles with their lights flashing. The activists stopped traffic for more than a dozen blocks.

One resident was heard shouting, “Get them arrested! They have no business here!”

One person was arrested for throwing red paint that struck Police Commissioner William Bratton and his security detail in the face and body. Diego Ibanez, 26, of Brooklyn, faces charges including assaulting a police officer, criminal mischief, obstruction of government administration and reckless endangerment. It wasn’t immediately known if he had a lawyer.

At a news conference in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton called the decision an “absolute blow.”

Sharpton was joined by the family of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by a police chokehold earlier this year.

Sharpton said, “Even when you see a blow coming that you expected, it still hurts nonetheless.”

He said there had been no confidence in the Missouri prosecutors from the start, and questioned why the prosecutor didn’t say if the grand jury decision had been unanimous.

With the death of a man last week in a New York City housing project at the hands of a police officer, Sharpton said, “Let it be clear that we are dealing with the same attitudes of Ferguson right here in the city. Ferguson is not just in Missouri.”

“We can lose a round, but the fight is not over,” Sharpton said.

— Additional reporting by Mary Frost